The Death of a Crewman
by ExpandingDarkness
Summary: A beloved Bridge crewman's death through the eyes of the rest of the Bridge crew, Bones, Chapel, Scotty, and Gaila. Character death. Short story. Chekov/Sulu


Bones

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Bones nearly sank to the floor in defeat. He stumbled as he struggled to stand when his knees buckled underneath him. His blood-soaked gloved hands trailed across the wall as he tried desperately to regain his balance. He then knocked into Christine. He didn't realize it was her for a moment, for he was blinded by grief and pain. Then he saw the tears flooding her blue eyes and the pain etched into her smooth face. Without thought, he wordlessly took her shoulders and gripped her into a gentle, yet fierce, embrace.

Over her shoulder, he saw the body of the boy--no, _man_--that had been like a son to him. Joanna would be heartbroken to hear of his death, for she had taken a liking to him immediately when he had visited their Georgia home during shoreleave. He had stepped up and taken care of him when his parents had been killed on Earth in an accident.

Bones pressed his face against Christine's wet cheek and felt her hand ghost over his back, rubbing small circles there and whispering that he was in a better place now. He was away from space that was disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence...

Christine

Christine let the other nurses collect the body because she was too emotionally compromised to complete the task that would tear her to pieces right in the middle of Sickbay. She stole a glance at the pale skin and the curls before blinking back more tears. Christine wrapped her arms around herself tightly as she quickly walked for the turbolift.

A few minutes later, she was flinging herself on her bed. It was the same bed where they had talked for hours on end, where she had developed her crush for him, where he had admitted his crush on her, where their first kiss happened...

There hadn't been much after that for they hadn't been in their relationship long before that away mission.

Christine sobbed into her pillow and then her hands felt a PADD underneath. She flipped it on and cried harder when she saw a picture of them. He was holding her and their smiles were brighter than the twin suns on the planet. They were both sunburned since they were fair skinned.

Then Christine thought about his deathly pale skin laying in Sickbay and hugged the PADD to her chest.

Scotty & Gaila

Scotty dropped his spanner when he heard the news. Gaila glanced up at him and then caught his gaze as the crewman that had informed him walked away calmly. Forgetting what he was doing, Scotty turned and went to his office with Gaila following closely behind.

Locking the door behind them, Scotty then proceeded to pull out a bottle of unlabeled alcohol. He poured himself and Gaila glasses and then they clinked them together.

"To the lad...the damn smartest man I've ever known," Scotty mournfully choked out.

They raised the glasses to their lips and drank away the day together.

Uhura & Spock

When Uhura heard the report from Sickbay, she turned as pale as possible and then slowly stood. Kirk glanced back at her and caught her gaze. He nodded and then gestured for Spock to stay with her. The pair headed for the Turbolift. As soon as the door slid shut, Uhura let the tears slip down her face.

Spock calmly touched the control to make the lift stop and then faced Uhura, tilting her face up by a gentle touch to the chin.

It was just how it was when Spock's mother had been killed. Instead, it was Spock comforting her instead. Wordlessly, he tentatively hugged her. Then he whispered to her, "What can I do?"

Uhura swallowed as the tears made her throat tight, "Just carry on. That's all we can do. We owe it to him to keep going the same."

Kirk

James T. Kirk sat in the Captain's Chair for what seemed like eternity. His side still ached, but he welcomed the pain. It was nearly all he had left of the man who had saved his life. Jim had trained the kid for away missions and he had always been eager and willing to go on them to learn more. The kid had looked up to him, he knew. Jim, in turn, had regarded him as a kid brother.

They had hung out after work hours and Jim learned just how smart the kid was. He had been so proud of him when he met every challenge that was thrown at him.

Now, he had defeated the ultimate challenge that they had been drilled over and over at the Academy.

_Protect your Captain at all costs..._

All costs had been met.

Jim touched the side where he had slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Then he felt the sore side that had been impacted.

He wanted to rage and scream at his loss, but he was still the Captain, an example that everyone else had to follow. Though, when he saw the empty chair on the Bridge, he felt his heart break over and over.

Hikaru

He felt alone, by himself in the void. Glancing over at the empty chair beside him, he felt the anger boil in his heart. As soon as the shift change tone sounded, he raced out of his seat. He ran along the corridors, feet pounding the ground in rage. Hikaru didn't stop until he reached his quarters, the door closing behind him. Without thinking, he let out a scream of agony and his fist made contact with the wall.

For ten minutes, he sobbed and hit the walls until he slid to the floor.

He backed up against the wall and put his head in his hands, tears coursing down his face.

"Pavel..." he choked over and over between sobs, "Pavel, don't be gone. I loved you..."


End file.
